GROUP 1

THE BASAL ANIMAL

PHYLA
&
THE SMALLER
SPIRALIAN PHYLA
DE CASTRO K., REYES, VITALES
BASAL ANIMAL
PHYLA
 Basal Phyla include the sponges
(phylum Porifera), jellyfish and
anemones (phylum Cnidaria), and
comb jellies (phylum Ctenophora).
 PHYLUM
PORIFERA
 The Porifera or sponges, are primarily marine animals
that are very different in structure from any other group
of animals.

Most sponges are found in quiet, relatively clear water

that permits a waterfiltering existence. They are often
attached to firm substrates, but they are also commonly
associated with mangroves and sea grasses.
 Characteristics of Phylum Porifera:
1. Asymmetrical or superficially radially
symmetrical
2. Skeleton composed of calcareous or
siliceous spicules and/or the
collagenous protein, spongin
3. Central cavity, or a series of
branching chambers, through which
water circulates during filter feeding
4. Epithelial tissues present; no
organs
Sponges are members of the
phylum Porifera. The body
structure of the sponge is
dedicated to moving water
through the body so it can
filter out food, absorb
dissolved oxygen, and
eliminate wastes.
Osculum
an opening in a
sponge from which
water is expelled
Ostia
multiple pores that
allow water to enter
the sponge
formed by folds in
the body wall of the
sponge
Spongocoel
body of the simplest
sponges takes the
shape of a cylinder
with a large central
cavity
Mesohyl
acts as a type of
endoskeleton,
helping to maintain
the tubular shape of
sponges.
Mesohyl
It contains all
organelles required
for normal cell
function
CLASSIFICATION
OF THE
PORIFERA
CLASS CALCAREA

It is also called Calcareous

sponges. Class Calcarea
includes sponges that are
small in size and less colorful
than other sponge classes.
CLASS DEMOSPONGIAE

Demosponges have the most

complex sponge body form
with monoaxon or tetraxon
spicules.
CLASS HEXACTINELLIDA

Also known as Glass

sponges. Their tissues
contain glass-like structural
particles, called spicules,
that are made of silica.
CLASS HOMOSCLEROMORPHA

These sponges are massive

or encrusting in form and
have a very simple structure
with very little variation in
spicule form (all spicules
tend to be very small).
PHYLUM
CNIDARIA
The phylum Cnidaria includes soft-
bodied stinging animals such as
corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish.
The phylum’s name is derived from
the Greek root word cnid- meaning
nettle, a stinging plant.
Cnidarians have two
distinct body plans, the
medusa and the polyp.
Polyp
a cylindrical or vase-
shaped body
Polyp
They have tentacles
surrounding their
mouth for feeding and
defense and
reproduce asexually
through budding.
Medusa
Medusae are
organisms that have
bell-shaped bodies
and are using their
trailing tentacles to
catch prey and they
reproduce sexually.
Cnidarians have a slightly
more organized body plan,
and have tissues, but no
organs. Most cnidarians
have two tissue layers.
The ectoderm of the embryo gives rise to
an outer layer of the body wall, called the
epidermis, and the inner layer of the
body wall, called the gastrodermis, is
derived from endoderm. Between the
epidermis and gastrodermis is a jellylike
layer called mesoglea.
Characteristics of the phylum
Cnidaria include the following:
1. Radial symmetry or modified as
biradial symmetry
2. Diploblastic, tissue-level
organization
3. Gelatinous mesoglea between the
epidermal and gastrodermal tissue
layers, acellular or with scattered
ectodermally derived cells
4. Gastrovascular cavity
5. Nerve cells organized into
subepidermal and subgastrodermal
nerve nets
6. Specialized cells, called
cnidocytes, used in defense, feeding,
and attachment
CLASSIFICATION
OF THE
CNIDARIA
CLASS HYDROZOA

Hydrozoans are small,

relatively common
cnidarians. The vast majority
are marine, but this is the
one cnidarian class with
freshwater representatives.
CLASS STAUROZOA

The body form is in the shape

of a goblet with a series of
eight tentacle clusters
attached to the margin of the
goblet.
CLASS SCYPHOZOA

The “bell-shaped” form has

the mouth facing downward
and the animal contracts the
bell to swim. This body form
is dominant in the adult true
jellyfish.
CLASS CUBOZOA

Members of the class

Cubozoa are called “box
jellyfish”. Their class and
common names are derived
from the cuboidal shape of
the medusa.
CLASS ANTHOZOA

They include anemones and

stony and soft corals. The
Class Anthozoa includes a
variety of animals that have
polyps with a flower-like
appearance.
 PHYLUM
CTENOPHORA
 CTENOPHORA - COMMONLY KNOWN AS COMB
JELLIES, IS A GROUP OF MARINE INVERTEBRATES
CHARACTERIZED BY THEIR DISTINCTIVE ROWS OF
CILIA, CALLED COMB ROWS, USED FOR
LOCOMOTION.
 1. STATOCYST

• A SENSORY ORGAN
THAT HELPS THE
CTENOPHORE
MAINTAIN BALANCE
AND ORIENTATION.
2. ANAL PORE

• FUNCTIONS
AS AN EXIT
FOR WASTE
MATERIALS.
3. TENTACLE

• USED FOR
CAPTURING
PREY.
 4. OPENING OF
TENTACLE SHEATH

• THE CAVITY
WHERE THE
TENTACLES
RETRACT WHEN
NOT IN USE.
 5. BASE OF
TENTACLE SHEATH

• THE ATTACHMENT
POINT WHERE THE
TENTACLES
EXTEND AND
RETRACT.
 6. CANAL OF
GASTROVASCULAR
CAVITY

• FUNCTIONS LIKE A
CIRCULATORY SYSTEM,
ENSURING ALL PARTS
OF THE CTENOPHORE
RECEIVE NOURISHMENT.
 7. STOMACH

• THE CENTRAL
DIGESTIVE
ORGAN WHERE
FOOD IS
PROCESSED.
 8. PHARYNX

• A MUSCULAR
TUBE THAT
DIRECTS FOOD
FROM THE
MOUTH TO THE
STOMACH.
 9. MOUTH

• LOCATED AT
THE BOTTOM OF
THE BODY AND
LEADS INTO THE
PHARYNX.
 KEY
CHARACTERISTICS
OF CTENOPHORA
 • BODY STRUCTURE

DIPLOBLASTIC (HAVING
TWO TISSUE LAYERS),
GELATINOUS, AND RADIALLY
SYMMETRICAL.
 • LOCOMOTION

MOVEMENT VIA EIGHT

CILIATED COMB ROWS.
 • FEEDING

MOST ARE CARNIVOROUS

AND USE COLLOBLASTS TO
CAPTURE PLANKTON.
 • REPRODUCTION

MOSTLY HERMAPHRODITIC; SOME

REPRODUCE THROUGH EXTERNAL
FERTILIZATION, WHILE OTHERS
UNDERGO ASEXUAL
REPRODUCTION.
THROUGH CHEMICAL REACTIONS.
 • BIOLUMINESCENCE

MANY SPECIES EXHIBIT

BIOLUMINESCENCE, PRODUCING
LIGHT THROUGH CHEMICAL
REACTIONS.
LOPHOTROCHOZOA :
SMALLER PHYLA
PHYLUM PLATYHELMINTHES
Contains over 34,000
animal species.
It is the largest spiralian
phylum
Their common name,
flatworm, is descriptive of
their dorsoventrally
flattened bodies
TURBELLARIANS
Most turbellarians are
bottom dwellers in
freshwater and marine
environments, crawling on
stones, sand, or vegetation.
Some are terrestrial in
tropical, subtropical, or
temperate moist soils.
CLASSIFICATION:

Tricladida: Includes planarians like Dugesia, commonly

found in freshwater and marine environments.

Polycladida: Found in almost all marine habitats, often

associated with mollusks and corals.

Rhabdocoela: Predators in freshwater habitats.

 BODY WALL

The outer body wall of turbellarians is comprised of an

ectodermally derived epidermis.

The epidermis is comprised of ciliated and glandular

cells.
LOCOMOTION

Turbellarians are primarily bottom dwellers that glide

over the substrate.

They move using both cilia and the muscles described

above. Cilia propel small turbellarians along tracks of
mucus.
 DIGESTION AND NUTRITION
Most turbellarians are predators or scavengers, feeding
on virtually any animal tissue small enough to ingest

The digestive tract of turbellarians is incomplete—it has

a mouth opening but lacks an anus

Turbellarians detect prey or decaying animal flesh

through chemoreception
DIGESTIVE SYSTEMS IN SOME TURBELLARIANS
NERVOUS AND SENSORY FUNCTIONS

Turbellarians have subepidermal nervous tissues. In

some cases, nerves are netlike and fibers coalesce to
form cerebral ganglia.

The nervous tissues of many turbellarians consist of a

subepidermal nerve net and several pairs of long nerve
cords
NERVOUS AND SENSORY FUNCTIONS

Most turbellarians have two simple eyespots called

ocelli.

These ocelli orient the animal to the direction of light

REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Many turbellarians reproduce asexually by transverse

fission.

Fission usually begins as a constriction behind the

pharynx. The two (or more) animals that result from
fission are called zooids
REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Turbellarians are monoecious, and reproductive systems

arise from the mesodermal tissues in the parenchyme.

Male and female reproductive systems mature

simultaneously, but cross fertilization is the rule.
TRICLAD TURBELLARIAN REPRODUCTIVE
SYSTEM
NEODERMATA

Include members of the classes:

Trematoda
Monogenea
Cestoda
TREMATODES ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO
SUBCLASSES:
Aspidogastrea, a is a small group of flukes that are
endoparasites of molluscs, and in some cases a
second hostmay be a fish or turtle.

Digenea the largest group, which includes many

medically and economically significant species.
NEODERMATA: CLASS MONOGENEA

Monogeneans are mostly external parasites

(ectoparasites) of freshwater and marine fishes, where
they attach to the gill filaments and feed on epithelial
cells, mucus, or blood.
NEODERMATA: CLASS CESTODA

Cestodes (tapeworms) are highly specialized

endoparasites found in the digestive tracts of
vertebrates. With around 6,000 species, they range in
size from 1 mm to 25 m and are typically white, yellow,
or gray.
SUBCLASSES:
Cestodaria – poorly studied, parasitize marine and
freshwater fishes, turtles; lack a scolex and
proglottids.

Eucestoda – medically significant tapeworms, main

subclass of interest.
PHYLUM NEMERTEA (RHYNCHOCOELA) – RIBBON
WORMS

• MOSTLY MARINE WORMS WITH AN EXTENDABLE

PROBOSCIS FOR CAPTURING PREY.
PHYLUM PHORONIDA – HORSESHOE WORMS

• TUBE-DWELLING MARINE FILTER FEEDERS

WITH A LOPHOPHORE.
 PHYLUM BRACHIOPODA – LAMP SHELLS

• MARINE ANIMALS WITH TWO SHELLS, RESEMBLING

BIVALVE MOLLUSKS.
PHYLUM ECTOPROCTA (BRYOZOA) – MOSS ANIMALS

• COLONIAL, SESSILE AQUATIC ANIMALS FORMING

ENCRUSTING OR BRANCHING COLONIES.
 PHYLUM GASTROTRICHA

• TINY AQUATIC INVERTEBRATES WITH A CILIATED

VENTRAL SURFACE.
 PHYLUM CYCLIOPHORA

• DISCOVERED IN 1995, FOUND LIVING ON THE

MOUTHPARTS OF LOBSTERS.

• EXHIBIT A UNIQUE LIFE CYCLE WITH MULTIPLE

LARVAL STAGES.
GNATHIFERA
 GNATHIFERA

is characterized by the presence of a complex chitinous

jaw structure, a common protonephridial structure, and
molecular data.
THE CLADE GNATHIFERA IS COMPRISED
OF FOUR PHYLA:

Syndermata
Micrognathozoa
Gnathostomulida
Chaetognatha
MEMBERS OF THE PHYLUM SYNDERMATA:

Rotifers - live mostly in freshwater and are small

animals. They feed using a ciliated corona, have a
complete digestive tract, and possess adhesive
glands. They are dioecious, and many reproduce
parthenogenetically.

Acanthocephalans - are endoparasites of

vertebrates. They attach to their host intestinal wall
with a spinecovered proboscis.
Characteristics of the phylum Syndermata

Triploblastic, pseudocoelomate
Protonephridia
Syncytial epidermis
Intracellular skeletal lamina within the epidermis
Unique basal body structure comprised of
microtubule doublets rather than triplets
PHYLUM MICROGNATHOZOANS

Inhabit interstitial spaces of cold-water springs of

Greenland.
They have a complex jaw system and cilia function
in sensory perception, locomotion, and attachment.
They reproduce through parthenogenesis.
PHYLUM GNATHOSTOMULIDS

Occupy interstitial spaces in marine environments.

They have an incomplete digestive tract and are
monoecious.
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